Why Former King Ben Scrivens Deserves A Stanley Cup Ring

Back on November 12 of this past season, fans of the Los Angeles Kings (yours truly included) held their collective breaths. Jonathan Quick, who had been the Kings' stalwart in goal for the previous few years, left the game with what looked to be a lower-body injury. For so many times over the previous few years, the Kings have come to rely on Quick - sometimes a little too much - on the ice. Suddenly, the team had to get by without the services of No. 32 who was expected to miss the next number of weeks. Enter Ben Scrivens.

Last summer, the Kings traded backup - and pending restricted free agent - Jonathan Bernier to the Toronto Maple Leafs in exchange for netminder Scrivens and forward Matt Frattin. Naturally, when Quick did go down to injury, those Kings fans who preferred Bernier in goal, thought their team was, for lack of a better term, screwed. Said opportunity was not only a chance for Ben Scrivens to shine but for Kings fans everywhere to experience life without Jonathan Quick, even if it was on a temporary basis.

While fans were left worrying about how much time Jonathan Quick was to miss, Ben Scrivens entered the spotlight and immediately eased the minds of those concerned fans.

Scrivens would suit up for the next 10 games for Los Angeles winning six of them and earning points in all but one of those outings. Scrivens also notched two shutouts during said streak, in addition to one he already posted in October.

While his stint with the Kings lasted just 19 regular-season games, Ben Scrivens made the most of his time in Southern California, posting an impressive goals-against average of 1.97 and a .931 save percentage. Unfortunately for Scrivens, rookie netminder Martin Jones began his career just after with a record-tying 8-0-0 mark. By the time Jones had established himself as the new backup in Los Angeles, the aforementioned Quick was healthy enough to return to the lineup, thus making Scrivens expendable.

On January 15 of this past season, the Kings traded Scrivens to the Edmonton Oilers in exchange for a third-round pick in next weekend's draft.

In order for a player to have his name engraved on the Stanley Cup, he must participate in a minimum of 41 regular-season or one Stanley Cup Final game, Since Scrivens was traded long before the Finals and falling 22 games short of the regular-season requirement, he is not eligible to have his name engraved. There are certain exceptions to make this so but I cannot see him getting his name put on hockey's Holy Grail. With that said, however, I believe Ben Scrivens does deserve a Stanley Cup ring as a thank you for what he contributed to the Kings' success, even if it was just for a short period of time.

This is ultimately a decision for the Los Angeles Kings to make and they are free to do as they wish. With that said, considering they didn't give traded defenseman Jack Johnson a ring in 2012, chances are that they won't send any jewelry Scrivens's way.

In the case of Ben Scrivens, however, this should be a matter of quality over quantity. His stay may have been brief, but it was memorable. After all, both he and Martin Jones deserve to have their names on the William M. Jennings Trophy awarded to the team with the fewest goals allowed. Unfortunately for them, Jonathan Quick will be the only Los Angeles netminder to get hs name engraved on the trophy as he was the only one of the three to meet the minimum requirement of regular-season games played. Even so, both Scrivens and Jones do still deserve honorable mention despite league rules.

As for the business of distributing Stanley Cup rings, should the Los Angeles Kings decide not to award Ben Scrivens in such a way, then I do hope that they will find some way to thank the netminder for his brief but significant contribution to the team's success this season.

With so much emphasis on teamwork for the 2014 Stanley Cup champions, giving Ben Scrivens his due would only be fitting.

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In 2006, he retired as the NHL's all-time leading scorer among left-wingers. In 2007, the Los Angeles Kings raised his number to the rafters of STAPLES Center. In 2009, he was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame. Then, this past February, his statue was unveiled outside of the aforeme...

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